Blog Archives
it didn’t feel like there were too many emergencies
This little building is right beside a scuba-diving location in New Mexico. So the potential does exist for a scuba- or swimming-related emergency, in addition to just normal emergency stuff that happens.
But the way that sign is just left there in a spot that’s not even visible from the parking lot OR the water makes me think there aren’t really THAT many emergencies. (But I can also make myself believe that there are so many emergencies that everyone already knows where the emergency vehicles and the sign itself is just unnecessary.)
Blue Hole
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 9.18.2026
hindsight
I was happy to find several Edsels parked in McLean – they are very ugly cars. They are ugly to the point that they become endearing, really.
I am not sorry that none of you saw my contortions while I was trying to get this shot. You know how it is: your mind thinks “Yes! That rear-view mirror. And a reflection. And the light bouncing on the fender. We’re not leaving until THAT shot happens.” and before you know it, you’re in danger of second-degree burns from all the chrome and metal you have to drape yourself across. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not regretting any of it.
(My friend Gerald has a collection of vintage Mercedes. I was very enthusiastic when I told him about the Amazing Edsel Graveyard I discovered. He tried to be nice about it, but I could tell maybe Mercedes People and Edsel People do not naturally co-exist.)
McLean, Texas
photographed 7.27.2026
i guess the centennial was cancelled
Well, this is awkward. Not only have I and my collaborator Claudette Torneden been shooting Route 66 for five years, planning to wind it up this year during the centennial, but tons and tons of travelers have hit the (famous) road this year for the important anniversary.
And now! It is evidently closed. Or cancelled. Or something. Huh.
Elk City, Oklahoma
photographed 7.26.2026
why pay more?
This place seems legit, right? Who here doesn’t need a $12 electric guitar or computer repairs that are less than $75?
But my favorite thing is the double underline paired with the two exclamation points and the completely faded letters. Whatever it used to say, I guess, was of great importance. Too bad we’ll never know…
Route 66
El Reno, Oklahoma
photographed 7.26.2026
breaking news
I am not an expert in events or tourism but it seems like maybe hosting an event to celebrate the dust bowl* while living in times where rural land (and water!)(not to mention towns)(and jobs) is threatened by data centers seems a little off the mark.
Route 66
El Reno, Oklahoma
photographed 7.26.2026
*The Dust Bowl was a severe environmental and agricultural disaster during the 1930s “Dirty Thirties,” where massive dust storms – called black blizzards – choked the American Great Plains. It was caused by severe drought combined with deep plowing and poor farming practices that stripped away natural prairie grass and left dry topsoil exposed to heavy winds. (as per Wikidpedia)
